


cruel summer

by bluebellsandhoney (helaravenclaw)



Series: khunbam week 2020 [1]
Category: Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service, 신의 탑 | Tower of God
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anak Zahard Jr. and Androssi Zahard are a Hazard to Society, Baker Ship Leesoo, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Cinnamon Roll Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Fortune Cookies, Hatsu is so Done, Insomniac Khun Aguero Agnis, Inventor Khun Aguero Agnis, Kiki's Delivery Service AU, M/M, Magic, Rak Wraithraiser Loves Chocolate and Bananas, Witch Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, day 1 prompt: hair/sunrise-sunset, khunbamweek2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helaravenclaw/pseuds/bluebellsandhoney
Summary: eighteen year old witch bam leaves his birthplace for the first time, and finds a new home in the shape of hazelnut lattes and an ambitious inventor called khun aguero agnis, all in the span of a single summer.
Relationships: Anak Zahard Jr. & Androssi Zahard, Anak Zahard Jr. & Hatsu & Ship Leesoo, Androssi Zahard & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Androssi Zahard/Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace very briefly, Khun Aguero Agnis & Rak Wraithraiser, Khun Aguero Agnis & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Khun Aguero Agnis/Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Rachel & Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace & Rak Wraithraiser
Series: khunbam week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1804129
Comments: 28
Kudos: 80





	cruel summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [This_Love_Is_Real](https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_Love_Is_Real/gifts).



> khunbam week 2020 day 1 prompt: hair/sunrise-sunset. 
> 
> dedicated to This_Love_Is_Real for being a pretty cool friend go check out her fics! title from the song of the same name by taylor swift, i hope you enjoy this :))
> 
> (me two weeks ago: I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT IN TIME HOW DO I WRITE SEVEN FICS AT ONCE  
> me last week, armed with a notebook, a computer and a phone: everything is fine i can do this in time  
> me now, frantically writing: HOLY SCHIST I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT  
> me after i publish this: holy crap i made it)

The small seaside town of Costa Hechizo welcomes a young witch at sunrise.

The witch's name is Jyu Viole Grace. He is an elemental witch, with the ability to twist earth, fire, water and air to his advantage - he is the son of Arlene Grace, a cosmic witch who could summon celestial beings made of constellations and stardust; and V, a shadow witch, a clever potioneer who made concoctions kick-started by the light of the moon. He had been born on the twenty fifth night of December, arguably the most magical night of the year - it was the night of Christmas, after all. His parents had given him the nickname of the Twenty-Fifth Bam - in the runic written language of the witches, 'night' is represented by what can only be verbally translated to 'Bam'.

Every witch must leave their homeland to hone their magic in another city when they turn sixteen, and return after two months to show their progress. At eighteen, they are free to leave their homes and go wherever they like as fully fledged witches.

The sunrise is beautiful here.

The view Bam sees as he flies on his broomstick is breathtaking, like a scene out of a movie or a painting. The sky glows orange, warm and welcoming, and the sea reflects the light of the clouds. Bam flies down on his broom until he is hovering above the waves. The smell of salt is unfamiliar and overwhelming, and the young witch wrinkles his nose. He dips his hand into the cool water, tilting his body and skimming over the waves, smiling gently when a fish jumps up to greet him.

He lands in front of a bakery - Junipan, it's called - and hops off his broom with practiced ease. It's still early, but he can see light seeping out of the small shop, the buttery aroma wafting through the air. It reminds him of home, of his friends. He'd met Jah Wangnan and Yeon Yihwa at school, all three of them witches, Wangnan an energy witch and Yihwa a fire witch, and they had done an internship at Tangsooyook Cafe a few years ago, under the guidance of Goseng, a kitchen witch. His stomach rumbles embarrassingly, saliva pooling in his mouth. He skipped dinner last night to fly, taking advantage of the clear and windless skies.

The doorbell jingles when he pokes his head in. "Hello?"

Junipan is mostly silent, save for the occasional sound of pots and pans clanging, shouting from the direction of the kitchen. There is an older boy asleep in one of the booths, a blanket draped over his unmoving form as he drools into his pillow. There's another boy with strikingly long blue hair, probably around his age, hunched over the desk as he mutters to himself, scribbling furiously onto a piece of paper. It suits him strangely well. Bam has never seen blue hair before.

Their eyes meet when the blue hair boy takes a sip of whatever is in his cup, electric blue against gleaming gold.

Bam raises a hand, offering the boy a tentative wave. The other hand is clutching his broomstick. _What if they don't like witches? What if they don't like me? What if-_

"Isu," the blue-haired boy calls out, still looking at Bam with that intense electric blue gaze, "you've got a visitor."

A young man with a buzzcut stumbles out of the kitchen, looking frazzled. It's Isu, presumably. His hands are covered in flour, and there's a faint dusting of it on his forehead and what little hair he has too. Bam isn't sure how the flour had gotten there. "He-"

He's interrupted by two voices in the kitchen, a boy and a girl screaming at each other. He pokes his head back in to get them back in line before ducking out again. It's still early in the morning, but he already looks exhausted. The witch wonders how long the inhabitants of the cafe had been there for - the sleeping boy is deep in slumber, and the blue haired boy is surrounded by empty mugs.

"Hello there, weary traveler," Buzz-cut Man - Isu - says jovially when he spots Bam's broomstick, acting as if nothing had happened in the kitchen. "I'm Shibisu, and I'm the boss of Junipan. Are you looking for bread? Coffee? We have the best croissants around," he brags.

The blue haired boy snorts. "This is the only bakery in this crappy town." He takes another sip of his drink, looking at Bam over the rim of his mug. "Trust me, I've lived here my entire life."

Shibisu raises a white-dusted hand faux-menacingly, reaching towards the other boy, halfheartedly threatening to spread flour all over his meticulously combed blue hair. "That's Khun," he introduces with a dramatic whisper. "He's the mayor's son, but they haven't got the best relationship. Best not to bring his father up around him." The baker makes a face. "He's a regular here. He uses our coffee to fuel his insane genius."

 _Insane genius?_ Who exactly is this 'Khun' boy?

The blue haired boy wrinkles his nose. "I can hear you, you know." He pulls something out of his pocket, flicking it in the baker's direction. 

Shibisu barely ducks out of the way, the object skimming the top of his head. "Khun, my love! How could you do this to me?" He wails.

Bam brings the object into his hand with a wiggle of a finger, carefully examining it. It's a clockwork blue turtle with an intricate design carved into the wood. "Did you make this?" He gives the handle a gentle twist, and the turtle's flippers flip back and forth between his fingers. "It's beautiful." The witch harnesses the power of the air and water molecules around him, the turtle swimming through the air and into the blue haired boy's hands.

Khun turns it over, gently stuffing it back into his pocket. "I'm an inventor," he says with a crooked grin. "And you're a witch, aren't you?"

Bam nods, snapping his fingers. With a bit of focus, a little flame sprouts in the center of his palm. He's not like Yihwa, who can summon intense fires without thinking, who finds lighting a whole swathe of forest ablaze even easier than breathing. Most times, it's up to Bam to extinguish the fires Yihwa creates.

Khun looks amazed by his magic, although he tries to hide it by turning back to whatever object blueprint he's drawing. "Nice."

Bam turns his open hand into a fist, effectively quashing the flame licking his fingers. He turns to Shibisu and carefully fishes out a dollar bill from his rucksack. "Do you have any recommendations?" His stomach lets out another verbal complaint, and he hunches into himself with a mumbled apology.

Isu bursts into loud laughter. "S'fine, kid." The man leads him over to a shelf with croissants, cupcakes, muffins, cookies and pretzels. There are pastries on the opposite shelf, some sweet and some savory. "Take your pick! These ones are fan favorites."

Bam drools internally. Everything looks so good, and smells ten times better. "The chocolate muffins are good," Khun suggests. He doesn't look up from his blueprint. "Get the blueberry one if you're allergic to nuts, though."

"I'll have a chocolate muffin, then!" He tells Shibisu with a grin.

"Ah, too bright!" Bam laughs when the baker pretends to shield his eyes. "Alright, take a seat. I'll bring you a muffin in a minute."

The young witch slides into the booth behind Khun, wrangling his broom onto the bench opposite.

"Where'd you come from?" He looks up. The boy behind him is leaning over the side of the booth, a curtain of blue falling around them. His eyes remind Bam of the blue moon, magical and enchanting and rare. "We don't have any witches here."

"I'm from Haneul Dosi," the witch tells him. "You probably haven't heard of my city. It's pretty far away, and it's not very big either."

Still, the blue haired boy nods like he knows what Bam is talking about. "I'm Khun Aguero Agnis. Call me Khun."

"I'm Jyu Viole Grace, but you can call me Bam too." Bam smiles up at him.

"That's a first," the sleeping boy mumbles, "Khun doesn't really talk to people." 

He falls back to sleep immediately after his little speech, and Bam gazes up at Khun, looking for an explanation. "That's Lauroe," Khun says shortly. "Ignore him. He was probably half asleep."

Shibisu reaches the table. "A chocolate muffin for..." He looks at Bam. "Ah! I don't know your name."

"Bam," the brunette supplies.

"A chocolate muffin for Bam," the baker continues, "and a hazelnut latte." He places both down on the table in front of the witch.

Bam frowns. A hazelnut latte? "I'm sorry, I didn't order a latte-"

Shibisu pats him on the shoulder, grinning. "It's on the house. Consider it a reward for managing to befriend Khun."

Khun splutters indignantly. "What am I, a quest from one of your stupid video games?"

"I won't turn down free coffee and a new friend," Bam tells Khun honestly. "I won't turn down a place to stay for two months either." The baker and the inventor look at him, confused, and he scratches his head. "I may or may not have planned a bit less for this than I should have."

Shibisu perks up. "I have a place!" Bam whips around, wide eyes hopeful. "I rented it ages ago, but I spend too much time at the bakery to actually do much living there. It’s not very big, but it should be enough for you and whatever you need. Khun can bring you there, he lives next door anyway."

"Isu, I'm working!" The bluenette retorts. "I want to get this done by the end of summer!"

The baker ignores Khun, as well as the two screaming voices in the kitchen. "Khun will bring you there."

Khun huffs, rubbing at a mark so furiously his eraser snaps in two. He swears at it vehemently.

"What about rent? I should pay you."

Shibisu blinks at Bam's comment. "Oh. Uh-" The phone rings loudly, and the baker excuses himself to pick up the call. "Hello?"

"Tracksuit!" A female voice barks. Shibisu blinks at the nickname. "Where's Anaak? She promised me pie!"

"Tell Endorsi I'm _baking_ the pie!" The apparent Anaak screams from the kitchen. "Give me _five_ minutes!"

Bam snaps his fingers, slapping the table enthusiastically. They all ignore the little flame sprouting from his elbow. "Delivery service!"

Shibisu cocks his head. "He has a broomstick. Give him a map of Hechizo and Endorsi's address, and he'll be able to fly the pie there," Khun drawls lazily. "That solves your money problem too. He gets paid by whoever orders delivery service, then he pays you for the house. Fifty thousand won per day should be enough for two months, Junipan is pretty popular and I'm sure having a witch to help the bakery will get even more service."

The baker nods. "Great idea, Bam!" The witch beams. "And thanks for the math, Khun." The bluenette waves dismissively. "How about you start off by bringing Endorsi her pie?"

"Anaak, use the mitts!" A male voice shouts, distorted by the kitchen door.

The door bangs into the wall and rattles the neatly stocked shelves of bread, kicked open by a short girl with dark skin and darker hair. The color of her skin looks like the color of his latte, light brown and smooth. She storms out of the kitchen, slamming a tray of pie onto the table. It smells like chicken and onion, and Bam swallows back the drool pooling in his mouth. "Tell Endorsi her pie is on the way," Anaak snarls vehemently. "I hope it was worth an entire night of lost sleep."

She stalks back into the kitchen, muttering about stupid women and their stupid enthusiasm. Bam catches a glimpse of a boy inside, with shaggy black hair and a murderous expression. He's also wielding a bread knife like a sword. Bam shivers. Shibisu carefully deposits the pie into a box, placing the box into a fabric bag. "Here you go," he says kindly. He hands Bam a map as well, Endorsi's home marked with a star and the bakery marked with another. "Try not to get lost, okay?"

Bam laughs helplessly. "If I get lost, I'll just ask a bird or something. My friend Miseng is much better at talking to animals, but she taught me the basics."

Shibisu shakes his head in wonder. "Bam, is there anything you can't do?"

The witch furrows his brows pensively. He's always been good at copying skills on sight. _Is_ there anything he can't do? "I can't make rice?"

Khun hides a snort with a cough into his fist. "You should go before it gets windy. You might get blown away on that lousy stick of yours."

"Aww, does our darling Prince Charming care about his new friend?" Shibisu coos.

Bam interrupts them before they break into a friendly fight. "I'm an elemental witch, remember? If it's windy I'll just make it stop for a while."

Khun gapes. "Right, the laws of physics and geography and pretty much everything don't apply to you."

The witch wrangles his broom out of the seat, and it jumps into his waiting hand. The bluenette's eyes widen, and he scribbles frantically onto his blueprint, a side note in the margins. Bam hooks the bag handles onto the broom. "See you later, everyone!" He doesn't miss how everybody in the bakery watch him swing his legs over the broomstick, setting off into the early morning sky with a "hup!"

He really is the only witch around here, isn't he?

Bam delivers the pie smoothly, almost too smoothly. It's not as windy as Khun had warned him, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. He lands outside a house by the cliff. He can hear the crash of the waves on the rocks, smell the salt in the air. The house looks newly renovated, probably expensive just for the view. He rings the doorbell. "Hello? Is this the house of Miss Endorsi?"

A pretty girl with short brown hair and tawny eyes pulls the door open. She looks suspicious at the sight of him, a strange boy with a broomstick. "Who are you? Why are you looking for me?"

He hands her the bag. Endorsi is really pretty. _But she's not pretty like Khun, is she?_ A voice in his head whispers. He flushes pink. "Here's your chicken pie from Anaak," he stammers. She stares at the broomstick in his hand. "I'm Bam, and I'm a witch," he adds, "I'm helping them out with delivery." Now, what did Khun say about the math again? Fifty thousand won per day? How much would be make per trip? Is Endorsi supposed to pay for the pie?

The girl beams. "Ah! Anaak's finally done!" She swipes the bag from him, propping the box up on her knee. She flips it open, inhales deeply with a squeal. "It smells so good!" Her eyes gleam with an emotion he can't quite name when she looks at him. "Want some?"

Bam shakes his head vehemently, even though his subconscious does want to try Anaak's pie. It smells heavenly, and he wonders who had taught the younger girl how to make pie like that. "No thank you, Miss Endorsi. I have to head back to the bakery."

She pouts. "But you'll stick around, right? I'd like to get to know a cutie like you," she says while fluttering her eyelashes. "There aren't many cute boys around here."

The witch laughs awkwardly, not entirely sure how to deal with Endorsi's high octane flirting. It was much easier with Yihwa, who had been suspicious of his intentions until he had blatantly told her he had no physical interest in her. She'd been quite insulted by that, although they were now close friends. "I'll be here for the next two months, so feel free to come find me whenever you want!"

Endorsi winks at him, pressing a wad of cash into his hand. "Oh, I'll come find you."

Bam won't lie and say it doesn't creep him out a little. He flees on his broomstick after saying goodbye.

The next two weeks that follow go similarly. Every morning at the crack of dawn, Bam is woken up by the sun filtering through the curtains, but also by Rak Wraithraiser, a robotic alligator as well as somehow sentient invention of Khun's that calls him Black Turtle and sometimes knocks him off his broomstick for fun. Khun yells at Rak for it, but Rak doesn't listen - "bah," the gator bellows, "all witch turtles are prey, and I am a great hunter!"

Apparently, there had been a witch here a few years ago, a Yu Hansung who had given Khun's pet gator a conscience of its own as a prank. Khun, however, trusts the witch enough to show Bam the various inventions and blueprints sitting around in his workshop - Bam is incredibly excited to see a tiny model of a plane that Khun is planning to remake in a bigger size. "Blue Turtle will be the best inventor," Rak proclaims with great confidence, "he made me, after all!"

Khun rolls his eyes, even though he looks pleased at the praise.

Endorsi doesn't go back on her word, bringing Bam on a impromptu shopping trip and tour around the city. Anaak tags along, happy to be with the adopted sister of her deceased mother despite her constant complaints. Bam is also introduced to one Ha Yuri - she's a family friend of Khun's and a distant relative of Endorsi's. She must be an acrobat or a gymnast of some sort, because she jumps on top of a trash can and tackles him to the ground with a kick to the face by way of greeting. Yuri seems to find him just as 'cute' as Endorsi does, and both of them fight to spend time with him. Anaak, on the other hand, rolls her eyes, grumbling about how Hatz is a better companion despite his swordsman's mentality.

Bam's delivery service is flourishing, with everybody eager to meet the new witch. Yuri and Endorsi could simply meet up and exchange snarky jabs at each other, but they seem to prefer having Bam do it whenever he passes by. It gets to the point that Khun suggests the two girls pay him for his message delivery services too. Now, he has more than enough to pay for his rent and living costs, as well as buy Khun a new stationery set. The bluenette has a bad habit of chewing the top of his pencils, and most of his erasers are used so frequently they are barely bigger than the size of a fingernail. Khun's blue eyes go wide when Bam presents the gift to him, just in time for his birthday. "Nobody really gets me anything for my birthday," Khun mumbles. "Thank you, Bam." His smile is small and tentative, but genuine.

Bam thinks it might be the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Whoa," Shibisu whispers to him when he sees Khun humming to himself as he works, "I've never seen him so happy before."

"It's the pen," Lauroe mumbles. "S'from Bam." He wipes the drool from his mouth before going right back to sleep, completely oblivious to how Shibisu's eyes zero in on the pen in Khun's hand. Khun is completely focused on his second draft of the plane.

"Hey, Ugly Earrings!" The bluenette jerks back into reality when Hatz slams a cup of coffee into the space in front of him. Khun swipes the pen away almost protectively, barely minding when his black coffee stains the edge of his paper. "Here's your last damn Americano. I'm not going to fuel your raging insomnia any more."

Khun splutters. "Hey! Don't insult my earrings! And leave my insomnia alone!"

Bam wonders how he has never noticed the two deep blue cuffs on Khun's ears. "I think they're nice."

Khun grins. "See? Bam knows his things."

Shibisu has to stop another fight from beginning in his bakery, this time between his barista-slash-swordsman and his most frequent customer.

The beginning of the second month brings Rachel. Meeting Rachel is a complete accident - he is supposed to deliver a package from Yuri to her friend Evan, who lives halfway across town, but he drops the package into the forest separating the two sides of Costa Hechizo when a bird attacks him. Obviously, he swoops down to catch it, despite the fact that the bird is still trying to attack him. Rachel happens to be the one to find the package. Rachel is not particularly pretty like Yuri, nor is she particularly girly like Endorsi. She's just a tomboy and an artist with blonde hair and a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. Bam likes her immediately. 

They become friends rather quickly, Bam spending half of his free time with Khun in his workshop, the inventor creating little gadgets for him inspired by his magic; and in the forest with Rachel, where she talks to him about her paintings and he talks to her about his magic. Sometimes, he and Rachel gaze up at the night together in a clearing hidden deep in the woods, where the skies are clear and the stars are bright. Something about her makes him feel at home - something about her feels like innate magic, like what he has.

Bam apologizes beforehand, and he apologizes after, but Rachel's face always darkens whenever he tells her he can't hang out with her. It's always worse when he tells her it's Khun he was with. Khun, on the other hand, is all too happy to listen to his adventures with Rachel. Apparently, his voice is soothing, and once the bluenette had fallen asleep on his lap.

One day, he brings Rachel to the bakery to meet Khun, Endorsi, Anaak, Yuri, Shibisu, Hatz and Rak once, but they are all instantly on their guard, with suspicious glances at each other and whispered words. Rachel excuses herself mid-conversation and leaves for home, seeing how unwelcoming Bam's other friends are.

Bam frowns at them. "Guys, that's not very nice. Rachel is my friend too, you know."

"I don't like her," Rak and Anaak both announce. "Yellow Turtle doesn't smell right," Rak adds.

"I crossed paths with her the other day. Anaak and I were picking mushrooms in the woods, and when she bumped into me she looked like she was two seconds from asking _me_ to apologize. I mean, how rude, right? It was clearly her fault. And then my heels broke. They're like, the sturdiest things ever. Yuri does back-flips in them and they don't break, but the heel snapped right off." Endorsi huffs, arms crossed. "Kinda weird, right?" She looks at Bam for an explanation, but the witch only shrugs. Rachel has been nothing but kind to him, even if she is a little strange. Besides, Endorsi should know heels aren't good for hiking. 

Hatz recounts another story about going solo camping in the woods a week ago to train for his fencing competition, and tells them about he had cut himself on his sword. "I have been following the honorable way of the swordsmen," he says, deep in thought, "my blade has never failed me until now."

Khun had been silent through out the entire conversation, but he chooses to speak now. "I'm not going to criticize your friendship choices, Bam, because you're friends with me, and I am not a good person to be friends with. But there's something off about her. I don't like it."

Lauroe mumbles an agreement into his pillow. "Doesn't vibe right."

Bam won't lie and say that their words aren't hurtful. What harm could Rachel possibly do?

A few weeks later, he and Khun are closer than ever, the two of them spending hours in the latter's workshop. Khun is building his plane now, and Bam helps him with the aerodynamics - science _is_ magic, after all. It's impossible to be a potioneer without being a chemist, or a healer witch without being a biologist. For Bam, it's hard to harness the elements without the physics of it. The witch whispers to the wind _be kind, he may fall but do not let him get hurt._ Bam brings Khun coffee, muffins, whatever he wants when he's too focused on sawing spruce boards to say more than "need coffee!". 

(Sometimes, Rak finds Khun curled over his desk in the early hours of morning, an unfamiliar jacket - 'Black Turtle's jacket - draped over his back and a cup of milk in front of him with a post-it note saying "you need to sleep, mr khun!!" attached to his forehead.)

One day, Khun clamps his hands over Bam's eyes, drags him over to the workshop. He takes his hands away to reveal the completed plane in all its glory - _The_ _Manbarondenna_ is its name, painted in gold over the wings. They're both grinning at the fruit of months of planning. Khun's smile is wide and his eyes bright, and Bam's heart goes _ba-THUMP_ in his chest.

He recognizes the feeling as-

Oh.

Oh no.

He's never felt this way before. "That's great, Mr Khun!" is what he says instead.

"Thanks," Khun replies. His smile is not as wide, but not any less beautiful. "Couldn't have done it without you." The sunlight glints off his hair, painting it white in places, pale blue in others. It looks like he has the sky in his hair, and Bam thinks he may just be destined to fly, higher than anybody else.

"Don't help me with your wind," the inventor says before his first test fly, determination gleaming in his electric eyes, "I want to know if I can do this on my own." He straps on a pair of aviator goggles over his eyes, cocking his head curiously when the witch giggles at how his eyes are a magnified by the lens, just a little. Bam lets Khun fly on his own, but he still follows on his broomstick. Khun's expression is one of deadly focus when he sits in the cockpit. Seeing the plane so high up in the sky, fueled with nothing but an engine and a pair of propellers, feels like magic, even though the only magic one is Bam.

The pilot test goes smoothly. Khun announces that he has already told his father about the plane, that he has bigger dreams than to be stuck in a seaside town for the rest of his life. He tells that his father has challenged him to fly the plane around the island and back, and that he has accepted. It will be filmed, and nothing is better to Khun than having video evidence of besting his father.

"What if you don't make it?" Shibisu frets. "You've only been to the forest and back."

"He makes a valid point," Hatz says with a completely serious face. "I would hate to lose my source of income."

Bam hides a giggle when Khun huffs sulkily. "Bold of you to assume I would die that easily. Fools."

They are not fools.

On the day of the challenge, Bam is struggling to get out of one Quant Blitz's house - the overexcited redhead had forced him to stay for tea after the witch had delivered a package from his friend Lero Ro to him. "Oh, won't you look at that?" Quant says, peering at the television. "That Khun kid is flying!" Bam gasps. Crap! He'd told Khun he'd be there to see him off! Quant takes it as a gasp of surprise, and not a gasp of 'he's an excellent pilot and an even better friend but I'm still worried because I have a crush on him'. The witch's face turns white when the plane begins to shudder in midair above the forest. "Do you think he's going to make it?"

"He has to," Bam says with shaking hands. "He has to make it."

There's something strange about it. It's like Khun's plane is being controlled, a puppet on invisible strings. When Bam squints, he can see his friend mouthing swear words, flipping switches and kicking the plane like that will help his situation. It feels like...

"Magic," he whispers. He remembers how Hatz had lost his camping gear, how Endorsi's heel had broke after Rachel bumped into her, how something about Rachel feels like magic in a stranger form. What Rachel has isn't white magic, like he and Wangnan and Yihwa do. What she has is a _curse_. He turns to Quant, swallowing the terror in his gut. "Thank you for the tea, but I really have to go!"

He doesn't wait for his host to let him go before he's opening the window and jumping out. He only realizes he had left his broom with Quant when he flies towards the clearing, given wings formed with pure power and adrenaline.

"MR KHUN!"

His pilot is trapped in the cockpit, doors locked, switches failing. Something is smoking. It doesn't look good. Khun's eyes are blown wide with terror as he looks over. He hammers on the glass trapping him in the cockpit, screams muffled.

"Hang on, Mr Khun, I won't let you fall!"

The plane jerks, once, twice, and _plummets._

"Shït!"

He dives after his friend, cold air whipping his hair, his face. He dives like a bullet, desperate to reach Khun in time. _Help me,_ he asks the wind desperately, _I can't let him die._

The wind decides to be merciful. It has always favored him, after all. It catches the plane an inch from the trees, hovering and jerking. There's smoke in the cockpit, and Khun is choking. Neither of them can unlock the door - it locks from the inside, and Bam can't kick open metal from the outside. Khun yanks at his seat-belt, but it is firm and unyielding.

 _Think,_ the witch tells himself desperately, _what can I do?_ The air has already lent a hand. Fire would burn wood and flesh along with it. There's fuel inside the engine, if he set it aflame the plane would explode. Water? No, the water droplets would drown Khun. That only leaves earth. _Please,_ he says in a last-ditch attempt to connect to the earth, _please save him._

He makes a cup shape with his hands, and the ground rises to follow, until the plane has settled neatly into earth molded into the shape of Bam's hand. The witch flies towards the hand, palm ablaze. If he burned the door down, he'd be able to rescue Khun, right?

His heart stops in his chest for a brief second when the ground falls back to where it was. Khun and his plane falls with it, but Bam manages the wrangle the air back into position to catch the pilot. There's a familiar feminine voice laughing, but there's a manic sound to it. It's Rachel. "You won't be able to save him!" The blonde shouts. Her tawny eyes gleam with madness. "The thing you rely on the most will fail you when you need it the most!"

Is that her magic? To curse?

"Why are you doing this?" He screams. "I thought we were friends! Why do you keep hurting my other friends?" There's a pressure on his nose, and blood drips out. He's exerting himself too much, too focused on keeping Khun in the air. Falling from this height will kill him.

"Mortals like them don't deserve powerful witches like us! Has nobody told you about how Khuns can't be trusted, Jyu Viole Grace?"

"You're insane!" Bam screeches. His eyes are glowing gold with power, the earth trembling underneath. There is a crown of flames on top of his head, his expression as dark as thunderclouds. Despite his position, Khun looks mesmerized. "Mr Khun is my friend! How do you even know my real name?"

"You're so _good_ ," she snarls venomously. "Spoiled brat." She snaps her fingers, and Khun's entire plane falls apart. The bluenette plummets.

Bam snarls. "Fück you, Rachel. I hope you get a taste of your own curse." Blood continues to leak from his nostrils as he shoots towards Khun.

He catches his friend just in time. Khun stares up at him, cradled awkwardly in his arms. "Holy shït" seems to be all he is capable of saying.

Shibisu forbids both Khun and Bam from doing anything extreme for the rest of the week. "Khun, my love, you need to take a break. Bam, no magic."

Rak 'babysits' them, and Khun figures out a way to compress the gator and expand him again. Predictably, Rak isn't very happy about it.

On the last day of Bam's stay at Costa Hechizo, Yuri throws him a farewell party. "You gotta come back and visit us, okay?"

"Of course, Miss Yuri! I'll miss you a lot." She ruffles his hair. "Who's your favourite?"

"Khun!" Khun isn't there, and it hurts. Does Bam really mean that little to him? Bam's smile falls, and Yuri cracks her knukles. "If he doesn't show up later, I'll beat him up for you."

"Please don't, Miss Yuri. I didn't save him for nothing."

Endorsi pouts. "And I thought I was your favourite. What do you even see in him?"

"He's amazing," Bam says dreamily. "He'd make a good mage." Mages learn magic from runes and spellbooks - if being a witch is being a scientist, being a mage is a scientist and a linguist. "He's definitely smart enough."

He is kidnapped just before he plans to fly home. Somebody flips a blindfold over his eyes, drags him to the lighthouse. He can smell the salty sea spray, hear the crash of the waves. _It's your mortal,_ they whisper. He relaxes when Khun pulls off his blindfold.

"Hey." Khun looks terribly nervous. He licks his lips, and Bam's eyes follow the action. "It's your last day, and I- I just wanted to make it special for you."

"You're special enough," Bam whispers. "I'd be happy with anything you do, Mr Khun."

"Call me Aguero."

The sun burns orange as it disappears lower into the sky, a brilliant red at the edges. The clouds are pastel pink, purple, yellow. It's beautiful, like Aguero. "Okay, Aguero."

Aguero, Aguero, Aguero. Bam could say that name forever. "I never really thanked you for saving my life. So thank you, Bam. I owe you."

"I like you a lot," Bam confesses. "Not like how I like Yuri and Endorsi. I just couldn't bear to think of Rachel taking you away from me." 

"Good," murmurs Aguero. "Because I like you a lot too."

Aguero cups his cheek in one hand, leans in. Bam lets his eyes slip shut, and meets Aguero in the middle. The inventror has very nice lips. Bam wants to keep kissing him forever. "So are we boyfriends now?"

"I guess we are." Aguero is smiling, a reflection of Bam's brightness.

"That's good, because you'll get more kisses. But only when you fly your plane without dying!"

Bam can't possibly ignore the crestfallen look on his new boyfriend's face. They kiss again and again until the sea swallows the sun, and Bam cannot delay his inevitable farewell any longer.

When night falls, the witch in Costa Hechizo is gone, leaving behind an ambitious inventor eager to reunite.

* * *

The sprawling city of Haneul Dosi welcomes an ambitious inventor at sunset.

From his seat by the windowsill, eighteen year old Jyu Viole Grace, or Bam to some of his friends and family, sees the shape of an airplane silhouetted against the glare of the afternoon sun. He recognizes that shape - he remembers the slight droop of its wings; the tiny hole of a cockpit; the blur of the propellers beating up the clouds. Most of all, he remembers the boy who he had helped to design that very plane; remembers hiding in a quiet coffee-shop, away from the heat of the summer. He remembers being sixteen and falling in love with a boy he knew he had to leave eventually and go home without, remembers lazy kisses and the promise of "we'll see each other again, this time I'll come to you."

The plane disappears behind a temple to the gods - coincidentally, one to the god of the sky. Bam had gone to that very temple to pray for a safe flight before his journey to Costa Hechizo two years and two months ago. He knows that there is a grassy plain behind it - there is a statue in the shape of a chestnut there, one he had made when he was eight and he was presenting as a witch for the first time.

"Hey, Viole!" It's Wangnan, shouting at him from the ground floor. Yihwa is with him. He sticks his head out of his bedroom window, peering down at his friends. "There's a weird dude looking for you! His hair is blue, how wicked is that?"

"Thanks for letting me know!" He shouts back. 

His heart is a jackhammer in his chest, ferocious and unsteady. His blood burns fire-hot in his veins as a ragged breath of air fills his lungs. He feels like he's drowning, like the earth is shaking under his feet, but it's all in a good way. He scrambles up to the roof, doesn't bother to grab his broomstick. He takes a deep breath, tightens his little ponytail, and takes a running leap off. He's fearless even when Yihwa screams his name. _Go,_ the wind urges him, whispering in his ears, _he's waiting for you_.

He follows where the wind leads him, weightless. When he lands, the ground rises up to meet him. He sees the plane up close - it looks much better in real life than it did in the blueprint. There is a crowd of witches surrounding the plane, all of them well experienced in the world of magic but not so much in the world of normal mortals. There is a shrunken crocodile, trying to stave off little children from climbing all over him. Bam fails to hold back a smile. Even in compressed form, Rak is still endearingly terrible with company. The adults are surrounding a blue haired boy - no, he's a young man now.

They part like the red sea for him, and there's a straight line leading to the young man with blue hair and bluer eyes. His hair looks like the midday sky, his eyes endless pools of ocean, so mesmerizing Bam could drown forever. The muted pink and yellow of the sunset cast shadows across his features, dappled light across the aviator goggles perched atop his head. The bright orange of the setting sun is beautiful, but it's beauty is nothing compared to him. If anything, it makes him look better - he looks like a painting, or a dream in the shape of blue eyes and white shirts and khaki shorts, and Bam can't help but smile at the fact that he is _right there_ , and _all his._

"Hey, babe." The bluenette grins, foxy-eyed. There's a brightness to his eyes and a softness to his features that's reserved only for Bam, a look of pure adoration in his eyes that don't appear for anybody else. There are tears in his eyes too - they had been apart for too long. "Did you miss me?"

Bam's voice escapes him in a choked whisper. "Too much."

Bam is running towards him, and he is running towards Bam, and both of them collide against each other, laughing and crying at the same time. He pulls Bam down by his collar, lips crashing together in a kiss with far too much teeth and giggles. It's one of the best kisses he's ever had. "I love you," he mumbles, pressing butterfly kisses over whatever skin he can reach, "I missed you so much, Aguero."

For a while, the world shrinks just for the two of them, Bam and Aguero in their own little bubble, trading chaste kisses and quiet "I love you"s.

"Love you too," Aguero laughs as Bam presses his nose into his neck. Letters sent to each other via the wind is not enough for them, not when the two of them are desperate for touch, for physical affection. Aguero's hair is tied back, a little longer when they last met. It looks good, and Bam wants to run his fingers through it while kissing him senseless. "Missed you so much, Bam."

Wangnan yells, pointing at Bam and Aguero. "Holy stars, Viole, you actually have a boyfriend? I thought he wasn't real, dude!"

Yihwa parrots his shriek. "Oh my gods, why is your boyfriend so pretty? Dammit Viole, why? He's prettier than me!"

Aguero laughs, eyes twinkling. He drapes himself over Bam's back. "We met two years ago in a cafe in Costa Hechizo." He kisses his boyfriend's cheek. "I owe him my life. He already has my heart."

Bam would blush if he wasn't already. "Aguero, you can't just say things like that!"

Both of them whip around when they hear a strangled, masculine scream. "Bam," his father wails, "you're growing up too quickly!"

"Is that your dad? You look a lot like him," Aguero whispers into his ear, lips quirked up in a small smile.

"Wait 'til you see my mom," Bam murmurs back. "We're basically lookalikes. Don't mind what my dad says too much. He's mostly being dramatic to get my mom's attention."

His father screams again. "Why didn't you tell me your boyfriend is _Khun Edahn's son?_ We used to know each other, goddammit! "

Aguero snorts, warm breath fanning against his cheek. "That's not how I imagined meeting your parents would go."

Bam laughs, heart fluttering at the fact that his boyfriend - his boyfriend! - wants to make a good impression on his parents. "Don't worry, Aguero. They'd love you, no matter what you do."

Aguero hums. "Why are you so sure of that? Your dad and your friends are screaming at the sight of me."

"They'll love you," Bam says firmly, "because I do."

Rak grunts at the two of them, children hanging from his arms. He's back to full size, and the young witchlings are delighted. "Sappy turtles." He's smiling despite it all.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoyed that! imagine [something like this](https://www.flyingmag.com/resizer/0FmzA3ndiBw6-aIlfw8y3B66lBY=/760x510/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-bonnier.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XQ4XGNONPJTGJXZ46G5KRF3IDM.jpg) as khun's plane, it's the wright flyer (basically the first plane, by the wright brothers)
> 
> translations:  
> \- costa hechizo: port horizon, spanish. it's basically like sicily, italy.  
> \- junipan: twelve bread, japanese. think of guchokipanya from kiki's delivery service.  
> \- tangsooyook: sweet and sour pork, korean. think of street vendors and snack carts.  
> \- haneul dosi: sky city, korean. think of kyoto, japan.


End file.
